Galway's Tony Mannion and Harry McCue of Drogheda both expect to field unchanged sides in tonight's first leg of the Eircom League play-off final at Terryland Park.

Mannion feels the key to his chances of success lies in a defence which had the best record in the First Division during the league campaign.

"The goalkeeper and the back four have been excellent. Aside from the play-offs and the game against Cobh, I can't remember when they last conceded a goal and their form gives the strikers a chance," he said.

Mannnion's hope is that his team can reproduce the heroics of the first leg of the semi-final against Finn Harps when a 2-0 win paved the way to overall victory.

However, he felt that Drogheda's exposure to better opponents meant they would start the game as favourites to retain their Premier Division status. However, with a large crowd expected at Terryland, he is far from ruling out the possibility that his men will do enough to leave them in a strong position ahead of Saturday's second leg at O2 Park.

McCue admitted to being surprised by Galway's success over Finn Harps over the weekend but added that after the run of form shown by Mannion's men in recent weeks, "we certainly won't be taking them too lightly".

Meanwhile, Shelbourne yesterday completed the signing of Jason Byrne from Bray for an undisclosed fee. The 25 year-old, who scored 64 goals in 159 appearances for Wanderers, signed a three-year deal.

Byrne maintained his record as one of the Premier Division's most prolific scorers despite the poor form of Bray who were eventually relegated. The striker joins recent acquisition Ger McCarthy, who joined Pat Fenlon's side at Tolka Park from St Patrick's Athletic last week.

The Shelbourne manager says he intends to add just one more player to his squad before the start of the new season in April.